1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of automatic loading of surface mounted devices such as a flat package type integrated circuit (IC) to a printed circuit board and an apparatus therefor, and particularly to a method of automatic loading of a surface mounted device and an apparatus therefor, in which the automatic loading is conducted by visually positioning them.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, with reference to the method and apparatus for mounting the electronic parts on printed circuit boards, there are examples described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1900/1985.
According to this embodiment, a special mark is previously provided on the board for positioning electronic parts onto the board and this mark is recognized during positioning of parts on the board.
In the above-mentioned prior art, a special mark other than the contact pattern is put onto the printed circuit board and the mark is read and recognized, which forms a problem. Furthermore, a TV camera is required to be moved in a special way to pick up the image of that special mark. Specifically, the pickup field of the TV camera in principle covers the entire printed circuit board, while the special mark must be provided as a small detail on a part of the board. During the attempted detection of this small mark, the prior art system picks up the zoomed image of several marks by moving the TV camera, which causes an alteration of the design of the board and an increase in the time required for recognition due to the delay incurred by moving the TV camera.
Further art is also described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 130900/1985 and 164310/1982.
According to those references, several problems have long plagued the art.